What does Sumerian Records' Ash Avildsen think of SOPA?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln I write this letter as a proud AMERICAN. I am completely against the SOPA bill being passed in the United States because it is stealing our rights to free speech, information and expression. Make no mistake that entertainment being free and stealing someone's art are two different things. Make no mistake that a policeman arresting a multiple-DUI offense drunk driver who fails a breathalyzer and a cop pulling you over because you swerved from texting on your phone while driving are two different things. Beyond any idealistic "beautiful internet anarchy" BS that so many people claim is the "evolved" way of thinking - the truth is that mentality is the furthest thing from the evolution of human consciousness, just like SOPA is the furthest thing from our 1st Amendment and stealing is the furthest thing from social evolution. Is our government so foolish to think that the masses wouldn't see right through the SOPA agenda? Is the majority of our society today so shallow and neanderthal that we have convinced ourselves because we can't hold something in our hands that it is not as real, as valuable, as important as something that is in physical form? We all know you can hold a DVD or CD in your hand, but not files on your computer. Now ask yourself: what's the point of creating a philosophical separation of the two, other than shameful personal convenience? Can you hold the laughter and happiness watching a great comedy gives you in your hand? How about the excitement of an action movie or the sadness from a drama? How about the emotions that get stimulated inside of you from a great song or album? Are these feelings any more or less real depending on how you experience the art? A lot of Americans are pissed off about the current state of our economy and the unemployment rate. When was the last time you researched what our country's biggest exports are? It's time every citizen educates themselves on just how important our art, i.e. our entertainment - is to this country. Movies, Music, Books, Video Games… So crucial yet so vulnerable… because humans are no longer forced to hold them in their hands in order to enjoy them. What if there were real life pirates who were stealing American ships full of Chevrolets and Fords being exported to other countries? What would we do? Are they terrorists? What if they're Americans? What if they're not? When I was a kid and didn't know any better, I stole CDs from Best Buy.. I stole candy bars from the store. I stole beer before I was old enough to drink. I would have stolen a car if I knew how to hot-wire one. Then I grew up, became an adult and evolved - as a human being. FUCK SOPA. FUCK COMMUNISM. FUCK STEALING. EVOLVE. REMEMBER THAT THERE IS NO WALL STREET WITHOUT YOUR WALLET AND YOUR OWN PERSONAL CHOICES. OCCUPY YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS. WORK HARD, BE HONEST, RESPECT YOUR NEIGHBOR, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND BELIEVE IN TOMORROW. BELIEVE IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO SAVE THE CONSTITUTION. DISREGARDING THE VALUE OF ART IS NOT EVOLUTION. DISREGARDING THE GREATNESS OF FREEDOM IS NOT EVOLUTION. RESPECTING ART, YOURSELF AND YOUR COUNTRY IS EVOLUTION. EATING HEALTHY, BEING CREATIVE, EXERCISING YOUR BODY AND HAVING A CONCERN FOR THE WELL-BEING OF ALL YOUR FELLOW HUMANS ON EARTH IS EVOLUTION. It starts at home. "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion." -Abraham Lincoln